DLP coming to Sarawak secondary schools next year, says Sagah

The state's education, innovation and talent development minister says core science and mathematics will be taught entirely in English.

Sarawak minister Roland Sagah Wee Inn says the state intends to boost students’ proficiency in English, Science and Mathematics to make them more competitive. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING:

 The Dual Language Programme (DLP) in Sarawak will be expanded to secondary schools starting in 2026, the state’s education, innovation and talent development Roland Sagah Wee Inn said.

With the expansion, he said all Form 1 students will enter the DLP stream and continue under the programme until Form 5.

“At the upper secondary level, the initiative will take a significant step forward, with core pure science subjects — Biology, Chemistry and Physics — along with Additional Mathematics, to be taught entirely in English,” he said when winding up the debate for his ministry at the Sarawak state assembly here today.

Sagah added that the programme remains one of the state’s main strategies to uplift education standards by strengthening students’ proficiency in English, Science and Mathematics, preparing them to be more competitive and better equipped for the future.

“This is especially important as we work towards increasing enrolment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields and producing high-quality graduates among anak Sarawak,” he said.

Previously, the DLP Sarawak programme required all national primary schools in the state to teach Science and Mathematics in English, complemented by the Ujian Penilaian Dual Language Programme (UP-DLP), which assesses students’ performance in Science, Mathematics and English.

On another note, Sagah said that the Sarawak Infectious Disease Centre (SIDC) in Samarahan is expected to be completed by October next year.

He said the medical research centre is now 40% complete and will become a key hub for infectious disease surveillance and biomedical innovation.

“SIDC’s focus areas cover several significant diseases affecting both human and animal health, including tuberculosis (TB), malaria, dengue, African swine fever, rabies and soil-transmitted parasitic infections,” he said.

On the Free Tertiary Education Scheme (FTES), Sagah said 64 courses have been approved across four Sarawak-owned higher learning institutions: Swinburne University of Technology, Curtin University Sarawak, University of Technology Sarawak, and i-CATS University College.

“The detailed list will be announced by Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg on Dec 18,” he added. - FMT